1. Field of the Invention Embodiments of the present invention relate generally to flat panel displays, and more particularly to displays having improved electrostatic discharge protection.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the emergence of the information era, display devices are being rapidly popularized. Many modern display devices are lightweight and thin, and can be driven with low power consumption. Due to these characteristics, the scope of application of such display devices is gradually expanding from televisions, monitors, and notebook computers to mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs) and smartphones.
A display device includes a display unit having a plurality of pixels arranged in a matrix, and a plurality of drivers and a controller for driving the display unit. The display unit includes a plurality of thin-film transistors, and is connected to the drivers and the controller by signal lines and power supply lines.
Depending on the environment in which the display device is used, static electricity can be introduced into the display device along the signal lines and the power supply lines, together with signals. The introduced static electricity can damage elements (e.g., the thin-film transistors) of the display unit.
To protect various elements (e.g., the thin-film transistors of the pixels) of the display device from this introduced static electricity, electrostatic discharge protection patterns may be formed in an area into which signals are introduced (refer to Japanese Patent No. 2001-135897, hereby incorporated by reference). However, these electrostatic discharge protection patterns are deformed by, e.g., an exposure process, and the deformed electrostatic discharge protection patterns may have reduced electrostatic discharge protection efficiency.